Practice Photo Session with Alex in Studio

Winter time is the perfect chance for studio portraiture. Alex volunteered to be a practice male model for a studio shoot. I wanted to practice some creative lighting with my portable lighting kit. Using the small speedlights we have advantages and disadvantages. They aren’t as powerful as the lights that plug in the wall but they are portable and easy to use. I can also shoot with the fancy apertures such as f/1.2. That is some geek speak for sure.

Alex volunteered to be a practice model for this photo shoot

Because Alex works out at the gym we want to accuntuate his muscle definition. This often means side lighting. I am building my small speedlight collection. I hope to have 5 to 6 lights so I can really light people how I want.

Practicing with speedlights in studio

Small lights are also easier to add colored gels. We added blue and green in this photograph. You can do it with larger studio lights but I have more gels for the small flashes which gives me more variety. This can be something that can be done in Photoshop but it is a lot more work and easier if you do it in front of the camera. I’m going to have to do some more gel light practice.

Using different colored gels for the portraits. Going green and blue.

Practicing moody black and white portraits.

Black and white portraits with small speedlights

I rarely use such small lights like a snoot. I usually go with bigger lights and softer lights. Snoots are hard lights with sharp shadows. They are great for mystery movies.

Using a snoot on the speedlights

For the second half of the photo shoot we switched to large studio lights and that changes how we take some photos. We did some formal photos with one outfit and then Alex when shirtless. I’ll admit I am jealous of the people with 6-pack abs and muscle definition. They definitely have the discipline to eat properly and have regular daily gym attendance.

Using the large studio lights. Model is dressed formal with bow tie

That being said I do put my time into photography. It is a fun job and personal hobby. Someday I’ll make it to the gym.

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About Me

About dav.d

I'm a photographer based in Utah. One day I am photographing a wedding, the next day it might be a commercial shoot. I've even started to dabble in creating short videos. I'm a digital unicorn... unicorns are real.